Parachuting attachment for balloons.



G. L. BUMBAUGH.

TACHUTING ATTACHMENT FOR BALLO'ONS. APPLICATION FILED ocT. 5. |914; RENEwED ocr. 8. I9Iv5.

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UNITED earns ATENT gOFFRE GEORGE L. BUIVIBAUGH, on INDIANAroLIs, INDIANA, AssIGrNoR or oNnIIALr To ALBERT I.. wAfrTnns, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

ISARACHU'IING ATT'AoinvInNrroR vialiLLooNs.

Application filed October 5, 1914, Serial 110.865,032. Renewed October 8, A1915. SerialNo. 54,888.

To all whom 2f may concern." y A Be it known that I, GEORGE L. BUMBAUGII, a citizen of the Uni-tedV States,"residing atv Indianapolis, in the county of Marion Iand State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Parachuting Attachment for Balloons, of which the following is a specifica tion.

It frequently happens that when balloons ascend into the upper air the expansion of gas within the gas bags, due to the reduced pressure of the atmosphere, causes such gas the balloon descends in safety to the ground by the parachute action.

It is the object of my Invention to insure the production of a parachute in case the gas bag of a balloon bursts, by making certain that the lower half of the gas bag will fold up into the upper half. In attaining this object I provide a fabric reinforcement of the gas bag of the balloon at its equator, this reinforcement consisting of a strip of fabric attached at such equator and free at one edge so that it can be laced to the netting over the gas bag. This reinforcement causes the folding ofthe gas bag in case of bursting to be an upfolding of the lower part of the gas bag into the upper part thereof, as the reinforcement oers a considerable resistance to any other kind of collapsing, so that the formation of' a perfect parachute isA insured.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention.

In this drawing Figure 1 is an illustration of a gas bag of a balloon and netting over it; Fig. 2 is a partial section and perspective view showing the construction of the reinforcement and the manner of attaching it to the netting; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing how the bottom half of the balloon'. upfolds into the upper half in case the latter bursts.

' The gas. bag 1 is shown as a spherical gas bag, with the usual appendixv at the bottom, and the usual netting 12 ts' over the gas bag 10 and extends downward for supporting the basket. Extending around the gas bag 10 at its equator is a strip of fabric 15, which at its upper edge is suitably attached to the gas bag proper as by several rows of stitching 16. The lower edge of the strip 15 hangs free, and is provided with any suitable number of eyelets 17, through which a cord 18 may be laced when the gas bag is approximately half full of gas in order to fasten the netting 12 to the strip 15, the cord 18 passing in and out over the ropes of the netting 12 and then through the eyelets 17 in an obvious manner. This permits the netting to be removed from the gas bagfor packing, but holds the two firmly together when the balloon is in use.

In operation, if the upper part of the gas bag 10 bursts, as at 19, the gas within it es,- capes through the opening thus formed and the walls of the gas bag collapse. However, the reinforcing strip 15 eectively prevents any collapsing around the equator of the gas bag, so that it remains possible only for the walls of the balloon to move toward each other transversely of the equatorial plane, and as by reason of the loss of gas and the consequent collapsing the balloon is now de- Specication of Letters Patent.vk i ypilvllrlll'iefl lEty 16, il

scending, the lower half of the gas bag is i to the earth.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a balloon, the combination of a gas bag, a fabric reinforcing strip fastened around the equator thereof, said reinforcing strip being free atl one edge and provided with eyelets, a netting fitting over the gas means for attaching said netting directly to said reinforcing strip.

bag, and a cord for lacing-the netting to the n 3. In a balloon, the coinbination of the gas bag, a fabric reinforcing strip fastened around the equator thereof, said reinforcing strip being stitched to the gas bag only at its upper edge and having its lower edge free, a netting fitting over said gas bag, and means lfor attaching said netting to the lower part of said reinforcing strip.

Li. In a balloon, the combination of a gas bag, a fabric reinforcing strip fastened around the equator thereof, said reinforcing strip being free at its lower edge, anda netting tting over the gas bag and attached to such free lower edge.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set 15 my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this twenty-ninth day of September, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and fourteen.

GEORGE L. BUMBAUGI-I. Witnesses:

FRANK A. FAHLE, LOUISE BENNETT.

Copies of thisy patent may ne obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

